Blogs, Blogs Everywhere: Does Everyone Need an Internet Journal?

I was working in a school where a teacher, who is technically savvy and making great use of digital tools in her classroom, openly challenged the idea that blogging is something to be encouraged for teachers and students. She voiced a concern that there is just so much stuff out there already, and all these blogs are just too much.

This was an especially provocative comment, as one of the other participants in the session, Mark Spahr, had just shared the blog he had launched as a place to post his thoughts about teaching and learning in general and on being a culinary-arts instructor at a juvenile corrections facility.

Her questions, juxtaposed with Spahr's excitement about his new endeavor and the connections it was creating, caused me to reflect on the amount of great thinking, great ideas, and great writing out there on blogs, especially those -- such as the Spiral Notebook -- focused on teaching and learning. I realized that there was way too much on the Web to even begin to digest. A human being could not regularly visit the sites on which this information is posted and still maintain a normal life in the real world. There are not enough hours in the day.

So the solution most often suggested for getting to all these resources is the use of an information aggregator (mentioned in a blog entry by Diane Demeé-Benoit and in one by Chris O'Neal) such as Bloglines or iGoogle. These aggregators go out and cherry-pick the content you have asked them to collect, then deliver it to you in one neat package.

But after you use an aggregator, what do you have? You have the ability to bring all the content you want to one place, the ability to create your own personalized and content-rich Web resource. Great, but what about that time thing? There is a TiVo-like sense to the aggregators that troubles me -- the inaccurate assumption that the only reason I don't watch this television show or that, the only reason I don't read a certain blog, is simply that it is not broadcast at a time that is good for me or that I don't want to go skipping all over the Web to look for it.

And then it hit me: The real power of blogging, the greatest benefit in writing for a blog, goes not to the audience but rather to the writer. It is in the very act of writing, the preparation of the content you are going to share, that the benefit is found. Writing is a reflective process, and the creation of content you're going to share causes you to work hard to make your thinking clear. An audience creates anxiety, and appropriate levels of anxiety support our best efforts. And the best writing calls for our best thinking.

Here is an example, from my own experience: This topic has been churning around in my mind for more than a week, and sitting down and writing this piece has been cathartic. I have crystallized my thinking and taken the time to get it as right as I can. I have made my best effort.

Should you read this and find that it causes you to think, that is good. But I have already received value from my effort. I have figured out what I really believe about the topic of universal blogging. I have a better understanding of my own thinking because I have stopped moving, thought, written, revised, thought, written, revised, and finally edited.

Would I have taken the time and put out the effort to do this if I was not writing for my blog? Let's be honest. Probably not. The blog is the taskmaster, the responsibility that not only provides the audience but also asks for my input.

Often, when I work with teachers responsible for supporting the development of writers, I will ask them, "How many of you are writers?" with the caveat that writing lesson plans doesn't count. The response is consistently troubling. Generally, less than 10 percent consider themselves writers. And I have to ask, who do we want helping young people become better writers -- a writer, or a nonwriter?

I am currently taking a Master's course that requires me to participate in a blog. At first, I was very intimidated since I have never done this before. Immediately I started thinking the same things you wrote about. I thought, "Who has time to sit there and read all these blogs and respond. In addition, if I have a question where in the world do I start to find the answer?" Your paragraph about the power of blogging really interested me. Honestly this is one of the first blogs I have read, and I was able to keep reading to the end. It really inspired me to think about the power of blogging. I see how wonderful of a tool it can be for the readers. Furthermore, I now see how enlightening it can be for the writers. I am a reflective person and go through the steps you talk about for each post I write. Also, as I am writing, I am learning. It is through these posts that I actually take a minute to think about what I think, to formulate my own opinion on topics that I would not have thought about on my own. Reading others responses stimulates my thinking and causes me to want to participate. So I say thank you. Thank you for helping me to realize the positive aspects of blogging and helping me to come to a decision on the issue. I hope other educators out there can use blogging to gain knowledge about new topics or old questions as I hope to.

I am currently taking a Master's course that requires me to participate in a blog. At first, I was very intimidated since I have never done this before. Immediately I started thinking the same things you wrote about. I thought, "Who has time to sit there and read all these blogs and respond. In addition, if I have a question where in the world do I start to find the answer?" Your paragraph about the power of blogging really interested me. Honestly this is one of the first blogs I have read, and I was able to keep reading to the end. It really inspired me to think about the power of blogging. I see how wonderful of a tool it can be for the readers. Furthermore, I now see how enlightening it can be for the writers. I am a reflective person and go through the steps you talk about for each post I write. Also, as I am writing, I am learning. It is through these posts that I actually take a minute to think about what I think, to formulate my own opinion on topics that I would not have thought about on my own. Reading others responses stimulates my thinking and causes me to want to participate. So I say thank you. Thank you for helping me to realize the positive aspects of blogging and helping me to come to a decision on the issue. I hope other educators out there can use blogging to gain knowledge about new topics or old questions as I hope to.

I too am required to participate in blogging for a class I'm taking. I feel like it's just "one more thing" and very time consuming to find a topic you are interested in when you've been given an open-ended assignment like this. I do see the value if you had a particular question or topic to research, but hadn't thought about it in the way of it being more for the writer than the audience. I can relate to that, and now see some strong possibilities for using blogging as a response tool with my class next year.

Jim,
I'd like to take your idea and spin it from teacher to student. I have my 7th graders blogging. Sure, part of the reason is so that they understand the technology and broaden themselves past MySpace and Facebook. But the real reason is that it "tricks" them into having fun with writing. I agree with you that often, the blog is not for the reader, but for the writer. I see the blog as a tool to help improve our students' writing abilities. It seems we are in a time when kids are struggling to form a complete sentence. If they can form a sentence, the reader better know text lingo to decipher it. Blogs are the perfect tool to teach proper skills.

I have to agree with your comments about blogging creating better writers. I am currently enrolled in an online university and because the only way for my professors to judge me is on the content of my writing, it takes a lot longer to finish my assignments than it did when I attended class. Blogs are very similar. You are being evaluated or judged solely on your writing skills and content. I often tell my 6th grade students, who think it is funny to speak grammatically incorrect in school, that they will not be perceived as funny in the outside world. In fact, they will be considered uneducated. The way you speak and write says a lot about a person. I think blogging it a great way to drill that into students. You never know who will come across your blog, so it should always be your best work. I have definitely seen a change in my writing since I started my online degree. I believe blogs can have the same effect on students.

Your explanation of blogging as a form of writing made me realize that a blog could be a great tool for my Spanish students. It could give them practice in everyday language and the give-and-take of a conversation with time to think and process. Great suggestion!

Each day, about 172,800 blogs are created. That's two blogs every second. With that, should you start another blog? Well, I think yes!

Blogging makes me a better writer. Writing mastery comes with constant practice and blogging is just about that. In his epic book, On Writing, Stephen King discusses how once he didn't write for several weeks due to an accident, and how when he started to write again, his words weren't flowing well.

"And then it hit me: The real power of blogging, the greatest benefit in writing for a blog, goes not to the audience but rather to the writer. It is in the very act of writing, the preparation of the content you are going to share, that the benefit is found. Writing is a reflective process, and the creation of content you're going to share causes you to work hard to make your thinking clear. An audience creates anxiety, and appropriate levels of anxiety support our best efforts. And the best writing calls for our best thinking"

If only this sentiment was shared by all bloggers then we may have something worth reading. However the majority of the work is obtuse, immediate rather than reflective, unsubstantiated, self-indulgent, sometimes down right fabricated and misleading. Yes, I think we've all had enough. The good is far outweighed by the bad and the ugly. I just found an Instagram page and attached blog created by a very old friend, a doctor no less, of her 4 year old daughter. I was beyond appalled. What is this constant need for validation about? The celebrity culture, lack of love and attention within communities and families or ? I don't have the answers but voicing every opinion, sharing photos of every meal, every time your child reaches a milestone or smiles or changes outfit, or on a darker note, when a very ordinary organisation decides to commit a violent act, is not the answer. Rather than tuning in, perhaps we need to tune out for a little while.
Sharon (yes my real name)